Let me start this off by saying that it hasn’t even been a week since Donald Trump was inaugurated.
Last weekend, an ambience of people walked with deliberation through Washington in support of women’s rights and other important causes. Inspired by the success of the largest demonstration in US history and motivated by the defunding, silencing, and censoring of science, a discussion on a Reddit has made the early plans for a March for Science. Now it’s really happening.
Trump’s administration is widely hostile towards science and its community. The early and latest actions of his Presidency have aimed towards discrediting scientific work and even dismantling education.
It’s 2017 and the government is making us protest the protection of our planet.
Organizers have already started a Twitter account and Facebook page where you can remain updated about the march and it has nearly doubled online interest in one day. Currently with only two co-chairs, University of Texas Health Science Center postdoctoral fellow Jonathan Berman and public health researcher and science author Caroline Weinberg, the Women’s March has proven that social movements can start in the smallest of places.
The satellite march will take place in Washington D.C. with lots of local marches organized in cities across the world, modeling after the Women’s March. A date has yet to be determined but will be announced very soon.
Here’s a few reasons why you should care:
- No matter your political affiliation, any government trying to limit the education of publicly funded research, should be concerning.
- A government that ignores science to pursue ideological agendas endangers the entire planet.
- The historic Paris Climate Agreement will be in jeopardy.
- Trump’s administration is mandating EPA scientific studies and information must be reviewed by political staff before public release.
- Scientists, NASA, and National Parks have been going ‘rogue’ on social media to keep the public informed and educated.
- There are no alternate facts for climate change or evolution.
- Gag orders belong in dystopian books, not America.
- There is no Planet B.
- The committee planning the march promises a “diverse steering committee that represents people of many backgrounds and identities. Science is done by POC, women, immigrants, LGBTQ, indigenous people, people of all beliefs and non-belief. We hope that this diversity is reflected in both the leadership of the march and the march itself.”
- Silencing science will not just affect scientists but America’s education system, our leading research in STEM fields, and the progress towards achieving a globe that isn’t fossil fuel dependent.
- Trump’s ties to fossil fuel CEOs should be considered a conflict of interest when it comes to protecting the environment.
- Science isn’t just chemistry. If you appreciate wildlife and animals, you should attend.
- Progress against oppression cannot stop with women’s rights. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Activists should be encouraged to support demonstrations for science, LGBTQIA+, immigration, and black communities as well.
- Bill Nye the Science Guy will be extremely proud of you.
This is a non-partisan issue that reaches far beyond. You do not have to be a part of the STEM community to care about our home. This should concern everyone.
I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people’s politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 24, 2017
There is another march and another opportunity to make positive change in the world. We can’t wait to see your posters.
